Hi Tom:

Please don't think I am trying to argue with you, I too came to the Lute =
by way of the Guitar and I understand the things you are saying.  =
However, as you gain skill with the tablature you will begin to =
recognize the linear structure within the tablature just as you do in =
staff notation.  As to the fingering, unless you have some modern =
rendering in tablature of something from a manuscript you still have the =
issue of fingering to deal with especially when it comes down to issues =
of developing and maintaining the voicing of a particular piece.  That =
in itself can create some interesting riddles to be solved especially =
with Milano where it is necessary to hold a note or chord while =
exploring an independent voice.  Often this means using unusual =
fingering for familiar chords in order to preserve the voice or voices =
that lead to that point, holding them while another voice moves on. =20

Vance Wood.
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 3:33 PM
  Subject: Re: Imitations


  Thanks for your reply, Vance. For from thinking I am too ignorant to =
cope with normal notation, my wife and others are astonished that I have =
managed to cope with what to them are hieroglyphics. As you say, =
tablature tells you exactly where to place the fingers, but when I play =
the guitar, one of the great joys is finding fingering to fit the piece =
I'm studying. That's something I really miss, experimenting around till =
just the right sound emerges, and a fingering to go with it. Is that at =
all an option on the lute?=20

  Often learning a piece seems almost 'mechanical'. True, I am nothing =
like as experienced on the lute as I am with the guitar, but that whole =
aspect of music-making which staff notation allows, seeing the structure =
of the piece immediately, being able to work out the fingering, indeed =
recognising the harmonic progressions, all that seems to fall by the =
wayside and, while I enjoy tablature, it still seems limiting, and =
limited, to me. But if that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. =
As I said, I regard it as an academic question, not something I would =
wish to go on the barricades about :-)  Cheers,

  Tom 
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